Chapter 2 - All Creatures Great And Small
"So you're saying we misidentified some of them?"
It had been a week since the mission to save the Brachiosaurus, and Drew was happy with the progress they'd made. Whilst observing the animals in the Morrison herbivore paddock, Khatin had come along to tell him about an intriguing discovery he'd made involving the sauropods.
The scientist nodded his head. "That is exactly what I am saying," he confirmed. He gestured towards the mighty beasts, all of whom were peacefully browsing. "The Brachiosaurus, Haplocanthosaurus, and Barosaurus are all correctly identified. The other diplodocids, conversely." He pointed at each group of the remaining sauropods in question. "For starters, of the Apatosaurus, nine are actually Brontosaurus. Of the Diplodocus, eight are actually of the hallorum species, formerly known as Seismosaurus. And of the Camarasaurus, the ten individuals with lighter spots are Cathetosaurus."
"Fascinating," Drew stated, looking at the sauropods with awe. "I'm surprised that Leon didn't notice all this."
"It's understandable." Khatin nodded his head. "The differences were easy to miss. At any rate, I figured you and your team would like to know, especially since I've already made sure to inform the rest of the staff."
"Understandable." Drew nodded his head, and then just happened to look at his watch. His eyes widened. "Shoot, that time already?" He directed a sheepish look at Khatin. "Sorry, I've got to go. The rest of the team is expecting me at my office in the next five minutes."
"No apologies needed." Khatin nodded his head in understanding. "Considering that you're the leader, it would be pretty awkward if you were late for the briefing for the next mission." Drew nodded, before, with a smile and farewell wave to Khatin, he hurried off in the direction of his office, hoping he'd arrive in time.
. . . . .
After arriving and setting things up, Drew pointed at the presentation being displayed on the board in his office, an image of a small theropod dinosaur with the word "Compsognathus " written above it. "This is what Theodore wants us to rescue for today's mission."
Jack took a long look at the picture and nodded his head with an approving look on his face. "Can't say I disagree. Good idea to focus on something small…"
"Indeed," Leon agreed while nodding his head, silently still mentally cursing at the news he'd just learned from Drew a couple minutes earlier about some of the rescued sauropods actually being a different species from what he'd identified them as.
"Just don't get too comfortable," Drew then stated, a smirk on his face. "After all, there's still a respectable number of giants living alongside Compsognathus that will likely come through the portal as well."
"Naturally," said Alice.
"Like you and Theodore made clear," said Adrian. "No species left behind."
"Exactly." Drew clasped his hands together and looked around at his four fellow rescue team members. "Who'd like to come?"
The team deliberated briefly, before Jack said, "Well I was hoping to get some experience with the Ornitholestes. In case we end up bringing raptors in the future…"
"Well if you're staying this time, so am I." Alice nodded her head. "I could use some experience. And with me here, it'll be easier for me to come help if you need it." Jack rolled his eyes in mock annoyance upon hearing this.
"I guess that leaves me and Adrian," said Leon.
"Indeed," Adrian agreed, a smile on his face. "What do you say Drew? A mission between us, just like old times?"
Drew smirked. "Oh, yeah."
. . . . .
15 minutes later, Drew, Leon, and Adrian were gathered at the portal site, ready to embark on the quest to rescue Compsognathus. Upon receiving a thumbs-up from Drew, the attending technician, a young man named Ramsey Gray, entered the appropriate coordinates and the portal instantly burst into life.
Drew turned to look at Leon and Adrian – he was looking forward to spending time with his old friends. "Let's go guys." The two nodded in response. Heads held high, and ready to get to work, the three friends walked confidently through the portal.
. . . . .
After the blinding light from the portal dimmed down, the first thing that hit the three adventurers was the heat, much like that of the Morrison Formation. They looked around and saw what had, evidently, once been a forest of cycads and conifer trees; however, pretty much all of the trees were leafless, denuded by the lack of water. The sky was cloudless and the ground superheated by the glare of a pitiless sun. It looked surprisingly familiar.
Adrian looked around, muttering "So where should we start?". "Same thing we did the last time – look for a watering hole. Watering holes are like candy stores to animals in a drought", Leon replied. Adrian nodded, "Just what I thought you were going to say. Drew?" Drew sighed, "I think we start looking for some smaller animals before we head to the watering hole – if at all possible, I'd like to get the Compsognathus out of the way before we move on to the bigger stuff."
Another pterosaur cry floated toward them, distant, unworldly. Drew stared off in the distance, trying to locate its source. And then he heard Leon say, "Drew, we have company."
Drew turned to see a half-dozen small, bipedal dinosaurs standing in a group. They were about the size of chickens, and chattered animatedly. Each was covered in dull brown feathers, segueing to black on the back. They stood upright on their hind legs, balancing with their tails straight out. When they walked, their heads bobbed up and down in nervous little jerks, exactly like a chicken; they also made a distinctive squeaking sound, very reminiscent of a bird. They had quizzical, alert faces, and they cocked their heads when they looked at the men. He said, "I think we found what we were looking for."
The dinosaurs stood, watched. Several more appeared, from beneath the trailer, and from the foliage nearby. Soon there were a dozen of them, watching and chattering. "Compsognathus.", Leon sighed, "Our targets."
"Is there any danger?" Adrian said.
"Not really," Leon said. "They're small predators, like meerkats. But I wouldn't get close. They probably have a nasty bite."
Adrian looked, curious at the compys. "It's weird – it's like they're not scared. Small animals are usually really panicky around things they don't recognize"
Drew had noticed that, too. "I imagine it's because they've never seen humans before, they haven't got a reason to fear people."
The compys continued staring at them for the next few minutes. A few of them hopped up and down, showing agitation. But the group stayed where they were. They just chittered and cocked their heads. Then, a compy at the lead let out a shrill, chirping cry and, moving as if a single entity, ran off into the distance, leaving a cloud of dust as they did. Drew mentally cursed himself, before saying, "We can salvage this."
Searching the forests, they eventually found a clearing full of animals – several creatures that looked like giant tuataras sat, browsing on vegetation, and two creatures that looked like snakes with tiny legs basked in the sun, whilst several kinds of small mammal, of varying sizes, scampered across the clearing's floor competed with small, lizard-like crocodilians, small, crested pterosaurs, small, bipedal, fanged dinosaurs and small tuatara-like creatures for whatever food they could find. Drew muttered, "Bingo."
For the giant tuatara-like creatures and small dinosaurs, they used vegetation as bait to send them through the portal – however, they proved to be a bit difficult, often snapping at the humans. The crocodilians and pterosaurs also proved difficult in their own way, the former snapping their teeth and swinging their tails while the latter constantly tried to fly away and avoid them. The smaller tuatara-like creatures and the snakes proved easier, as did the mammals. After the last of them was sent through, Leon turned to Drew and said, "What now, exactly?"
Before Drew could respond, there was a loud, squawking cacophony, and they looked to up to see a small flock of pterosaurs looking down at them. They looked vaguely like the Mesadactylus back at the park, only smaller, darker in color and with white spots on their wings. Accompanying them was a small group of mammals, like flying squirrels. Leaving a trail of mealworms on the ground, Drew, Leon and Adrian waited for the animals to alight on the ground, before setting up the portal. Transfixed by the glowing orb, the creatures moved through the portal, moving as if a single entity. After the last was through, Drew turned to his team and said, "Right. What we do now is head to a watering hole!"
. . . . .
Kyle observed the animals that had just come through the portal. The dryolestes he immediately recognized; the four other dryolestoids he didn't. Leon's same dossier had also made it clear that, at a glance, it would be hard to tell if they were an unidentified species or not, so he made a note to ask Khatin to confirm this. The large shrew-like creatures with webbed feet, and rat-like tails, he recognized as Haldanodon, whilst the orange-furred chipmunk-like creatures, were Henkelotherium. He also took note of a group of mammals that resembled the Triconolestes; they were similar volaticotheriids. He made similar deductions for the tuatara-like creatures, the small heterodontosaurids and the snakes, as well as most of the pterosaurs and the lizard-crocs. The other pterosaur flock that had come in alongside the volaticotheriids, he could identify as Anurognathus. He nodded his head once more, smile on his face. These animals, being easier to handle, would make a good start.
He looked to the members of the team handling the new arrivals. "Alright everyone," he stated. "You know the drill. Same procedure as the ones before, but don't get complacent. And somebody get Khatin and ask him and his team to identify some of them."
"Understood," the keepers present spoke in unison. As one, the entire team got to work.
. . . . .
Meanwhile, at the main Morrison Formation large herbivore paddock, multiple keepers were hard at work. Like any zoo, the animals required hard work in order to be properly cared for, and Prehistoric Park was no exception. The ornithischian keepers on duty were already hard at work; most of the ornithiscian keepers had experience with hoofstock, and the routine was much the same.
Amongst them, 23-year old Vietnamese keeper Cassandra 'Cass' Cheng was sitting on a log and observing the larger Stegosaurus herd. This herd, consisting of six adult females, a single subadult female, and two small juveniles had been travelling alongside three adult males; however, shortly after arriving, the three adult males had split from the group. Cass smiled at the sight of the two juveniles play fighting, at one point almost tripping up the subadult, before returning her attention back on the six adults; they all looked healthy. "They're all eating healthily," she whispered to herself while writing down this same observation in a notebook she had brought along for work. "None of them are showing any signs of illness or injury, and they're all getting on well."
At the sound of more stegosaur grunting coming from a couple yards away, the keeper and the herd looked towards a nearby forest in time to see none other than the three adult male Stegosaurus come out. Gideon, the leader of the trio, was looking in the direction of the larger Stegosaurus herd, the matriarch of said herd looking right back at him. A silent message seemed to pass between the two leaders; 'stick to your boundaries'. Gideon grunted, swished his tail from side to side, and slowly walked towards a trio of makeshift 'conifers', the other two adult males following close behind. Cass observed the three males, noticing how they used their tails as tripods to rear up on their hind legs to reach the highest conifers positioned on the feeding poles. Much like with the larger herd, the three males were healthy, eating and were getting on.
"So far so good," she whispered to herself. She nodded her head, still smiling. "One week and things are looking good. Even with Tina." As she had this last thought, her smile faded as she remembered her older sister, who was also working here. From a young age, she and Tina had been at odds due to their opposing personalities. Their parents hadn't helped – it seemed that they'd actively worked to pit the two against each other. Now, while they both worked at the same park, Tina's duties were reduced; the mammal carnivores they had now were no bigger than a rat.
She briefly hung her head. As she couldn't help but admit, part of her felt happy that Tina had to wait before getting the chance to work with the animals she wanted to work with. After all, Tina was acting relatively mellow around her and their antagonism was reduced. But at the same time, she couldn't help but hope that her sister would be happy working here. After all, they still cared a lot about each other; even if they never really showed it.
She shook her head side to side to regain her focus. Now was not the time to focus on her and Tina's sibling dynamics. She took one more look at the Stegosaurus herd, before looking over at some of her fellow keepers with the ankylosaurs. "Maybe I should see if they need any help," she thought to herself as she made her way over to them.
Nearby, keeper Mohinder Chandra had a wide smile on his face as he observed the Brachiosaurus herd peacefully browsing from one of the specially designed feeding trees. The trees in question, inspired by similar feeding mechanisms at Disney's Animal Kingdom, were mechanical versions of the trees the sauropods fed on in the Jurassic.
The high-browsing Brachiosaurus were all eating eagerly; Mohinder was particularly focused on Baylene, the elderly female matriarch of the herd, as well as one of the adolescent males, who had been, rather ironically, named Shorty – at twenty-five feet high and thirty-five feet long, he was already taller than a giraffe.
He had to admit, so far, things were going well after one week as one of Prehistoric Park's sauropod keepers – there was just something majestic about working with such mighty beasts. And, when more sauropods joined the collection, more people would be able to experience this.
As he watched the low-browsing Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus, he took note of the six younger Apatosaurus. Each was about thirty feet long – about the same size as the young male who'd been rescued from the quicksand; he was still in the veterinary station. However, he would be introduced to the herd once he was healthy enough. Would they accept him? Who knew?
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard what sounded like a small argument. Rolling his eyes, he looked in the direction the noise was coming from in time to see two of his fellow sauropod keepers seemingly in a disagreement while the rest of the sauropod keepers looked on. Judging by how the two apparently arguing keepers were gesturing towards the Diplodocus herd, he realized that they were probably having a disagreement. "Here we go again," Mohinder sighed before making his way over towards the two arguing keepers.
As awe-inspiring as the sauropods were, he also couldn't help but notice that they were among the animals that seemed to inflate the egos of many of their keepers; maybe because they had been culled from the ranks of elephant keepers. He himself, being one of the humbler sauropod keepers, had thus taken it upon himself to act as peacemaker and mediator; and it had only been a week. At this point, he couldn't help but wonder if the rescue team ever had to deal with such drama.
. . . . .
Meanwhile, Drew, Leon and Adrian had spent most of the day following animal trails to the possible location of a watering hole. They hadn't seen any animals since the clearing; Drew sighed. "Nothing so far."
Leon breathed out. "When we get to the watering hole, we're going to find stuff. We just need to be patient."
He was cut off by an Ornitholestes vocalization, followed by a low reverberating growling. Following the sound, they saw two Ornitholestes standing over the carcass of a dead ornithopod, hissing and snapping at a small group of larger theropods. Each of these was about twelve feet long and covered in a thin coat of dark tan feathers, segueing to white on the face. Leon breathed out, "Aviatyrannis – an early tyrannosaur. However, Ornitholestes wasn't found in Portugal – maybe this is an undiscovered species."
Drew smirked. "Two for the price of one."
After a few minutes, the Aviatyrannis got bolder, making mock charges at the Ornitholestes, snapping at them to intimidate them into fleeing. The Ornitholestes stood their ground, snarling and hissing defiantly. But how long were they going to last? The Aviatyrannis had the advantages of size, power and numbers. It was a fact; the odds were tipped in the Aviatyrannis' favour.
Eventually, the Ornitholestes began to back away; whilst one attempted to rip a chunk of meat, a Aviatyrannis attacked it as it retreated, causing it to drop the meat. Their rivals gone, the Aviatyrannis pack ripped into the carcass with gusto.
The Ornitholestes waited some distance away, for the larger theropods to finish. "There won't be much left of the carcass in a few minutes," Adrian muttered. "If we don't act now, we'll miss the opportunity."
Drew looked at the two Ornitholestes, a smirk on his face. "I've got a plan. Adrian, you handle the Ornitholestes, I'll handle the Aviatyrannis." Leon sighed.
Using a grappling tool, Adrian hooked the chunk of meat that the Ornitholestes had dropped and began pulling it. The theropods, noticing the meat moving away, followed it – once they'd gotten close enough, he activated the portal and the theropods dived after the meat.
Once the Ornitholestes had been accounted for, Drew drew out his airhorn and honked it loudly in the direction of the Aviatyrannis, who turned to look at him. Drew smirked and said, "That's right; come and get me." The Aviatyrannis snarled and bolted straight towards him. Once they had gotten close enough, Drew activated the portal and the theropods dove through.
Drew smirked, "Two for the price of one." Leon sighed, before looking up to the sky, "It's getting dark – we might need to set up camp. It's not safe to be walking around here at night."
. . . . .
Half an hour later, the trio had set up camp within the clearing and were now sitting around a small campfire. Drew was clearly quite happy as he chuckled and joked around with his two friends, even as Leon. After a while, Drew leaned against a rock behind him, hands across the back of his head in a relaxed position. "I have to admit guys," he stated. "It really is nice, just the three of us. It's like old times."
"You got that right," Adrian agreed.
"Right back at you," Leon chimed in. He nodded his head and briefly looked towards the wooded area behind him. "You know, it's kinda funny that the three of us even became friends at all."
"I know what you mean, bro." Adrian nodded his head, an almost sage-like look on his face, and then pointed at Drew. "Well, you were a hair's width away from dethroning the quarterback as the top of the social ladder; you were the star of the basketball team, president of the debate club…" Drew grinned as Adrian then pointed at Leon. "Then there was you, the geeky weirdo who knew all the answers in the lessons. And me; the artistic loner kid who never really talked to anybody." Leon snorted, "Yeah – we were so dissimilar it's almost comical."
"God bless 8th grade Biology," said Drew. The three friends chuckled. "In all seriousness though, I am glad that we managed to come together as friends."
"No kidding." Leon shook his head side to side, eyes narrowed as he once again remembered all too well just how things had been for him prior to Adrian and Drew entering his life.
Even before he'd been diagnosed, life had been pretty difficult. From a very young age, he'd always felt… different compared to most other kids in a way that he couldn't quite fully explain. It had been frustrating.
Even his parents and sister, whilst loving him all the same, were perplexed as to his… oddities. At school, however, these quirks and his natural social awkwardness had led to him being a social outcast… until, at 13, he had been assigned to work in a group alongside Adrian and Drew for the sake of a project in their mutual 8th grade biology class. Over the course of their work together on this project, they'd come to realize just how much they had in common; most notably, a shared passion and knowledge for animals; and become fast friends. And in the summer following, he'd gotten a proper explanation behind his unusual nature by finally receiving a diagnosis of mild high-functioning autism. This should have been a relief.
With him now being friends with a member of the popular crowd, the teasing Leon had undergone had largely gone away. However, the popular kids were started viewing him and Adrian as hangers-on. However, that was preferable to what he had gone through before. Simply put, he was glad that he'd befriended Drew and Adrian and somewhat glad that they were all back together again.
As he had that last thought though, his smile weakened, and he hung his head while letting a sigh escape his lips.
Drew immediately directed a concerned look towards Leon. "Is something wrong?" Adrian likewise directed a concerned look at his friend.
Leon sighed, and looked to his two friends. "Nothing. Everything's fine."
Drew gave Leon a curious look, "You sure?" Leon nodded, "Yeah – everything's fine."
Adrian looked at Leon a little more suspiciously; he was always a bit more sensitive to emotions than Drew was. He knew something was wrong, but he decided to not press the matter.
Leon sighed and looked at Drew. He'd never admit this, but his views on Drew were… complicated. On the one hand, Drew was one of his best friends. In fact, Leon's admiration of him had grown into a subtle idolisation; with his charm, charisma and bravado, how could one not idolise him? But at the same time, he also couldn't help but resent him a tiny bit. As it currently stood, a lot of people seemed to always consider him second best to Drew; even after the brachiosaurus mission. To make matters worse, this might not have exactly been incorrect.
Adrian had done well after they parted ways from the pet store – he'd gone around the world, learning falconry and had become very, very skilled at it. Leon… what had Leon done? After the pet store, he'd slalomed between jobs – from a library to a pet sitting business to working at various zoos and animal shelters as an animal handler… None of the jobs had lasted long; generally a result of either incompatible coworkers, inconvenient distance, or simply it was just a bad fit. He was hoping Prehistoric Park would be different.
However, considering the trip he took in the dust pocket…
He dismissed the thoughts from his mind; he had to remain optimistic. It was early days yet.
His thoughts were interrupted, when Drew looked up towards the night sky, and then at his watch. "It's starting to get pretty late; we should probably tuck in and get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us."
His two friends were quick to agree; however, they had to plan out some sort of watch rota, in case some prehistoric predator came for them. And so, with Drew set for first watch, Leon and Adrian got into their sleeping bags and went straight to sleep.
. . . . .
When morning finally arrived in Jurassic Portugal, Adrian had never been happier when Drew and Leon woke up; his time on watch was over. And from there, they paused just long enough to have a brief meal of raisins and protein bars before they set off to continue their search for a watering hole. Drew, as usual, was as happy and excited as ever. "Anyone else hoping for a good haul today?" His two friends chuckled and nodded in agreement. Then the silence was broken by the sound of stegosaur grunting and dryosaur warbling. The three friends turned their heads in the direction of the noise.
"Doesn't sound like compys," said Leon. "However, it's probably worth investigating."
"Read my mind," said Drew. "Let's go."
Following the source of the sound, they saw a small group of stegosaurs browsing from a series of denuded ferns. They looked like the Stegosaurus from the park, only with much longer necks and with a large spike growing out of each shoulder. Browsing alongside them was a small group of Dryosaurus. Leon knew what the stegosaurs were immediately, "Dacentrus – a kind of stegosaur found in the area. As for the Dryosaurus… their remains have been found in the Lourihina Formation, so they probably existed in Europe, too." Drew smiled, "Two for the price of one." Leaving a trail of vegetation, they managed to lead them through the portal – once the last one had gone through, Drew closed the portal. Leon turned to Drew and asked, "Can we get back to looking for Compsognathus, now?"
Following the source of the growls, they entered a clearing to see a pack of Ceratosaurus eagerly ripping into the body of a dead sauropod – a casualty of the drought. They looked like the ones back at the park, only slightly larger, at about thirty feet long, and darker in colouration. With them, was a pair of theropods that looked like larger versions of the Marshosaurus back at the park. Two small groups of scaphognathine pterosaurs, like the Harpactognathus back at the park circled the carcass, waiting for the theropods to finish.
Eventually, the theropods began to move away from the carcass. At this point, Drew knew it was now or never. He drew out an airhorn and blew into it at full volume. The pack leader instantly straightened up and growled, whilst Drew blew the airhorn again. The Ceratosaurus turned its head, only to then hiss again at the sight of the five humans before charging towards them. Its mate, noticing it leave, turned its head and noticed the humans as the rest of the pack followed suit, with the other two theropods and scaphognathine pterosaurs following. Fortunately, Drew was quick to act, opening the portal in time to account for all four groups. Once the last had gone through, Drew closed the portal. Panting and gasping, he looked back at the rest of the team. "Right, now we can get back to looking for the compys."
. . . . .
Meanwhile, back at the park, the young male apatosaurus, who Yolanda had named Arlo, was gingerly exploring the recovery pen he was living in. With each step, he turned his head and scanned the air, curiously and cautiously, occasionally bellowing or grunting. At the same time this was happening, he was being watched from outside the pen by Kyle, Nikolai, and Yolanda. The head keeper and assistant vet had a mixture of happiness and wonder on their faces as they watched the young sauropod innocently exploring the area. The security chief, on the other hand, had a noncommittal look on his face, as he scanned the sauropod. He knew that the apatosaur would eventually be integrated with the herd, an event that could easily turn out badly. And even without that matter to consider, he still weighed more than an African bull elephant. He carefully made mental note of every detail he could think of, memorizing as much as he could.
This behaviour did not go unnoticed. Yolanda turned to the chief of security and said, a mixture of curiosity and annoyance, "Do you really have to do that all the time?"
Nikolai directed a glance at the young vet assistant out of the corner of his eyes, before saying in a calm tone, "This is a dangerous business we are working in." He pointed at the young lone male apatosaurus. "He may look harmless. But mark my words, if he were panicked or enraged, he could be dangerous. And if that happens, someone has to be ready for it."
Kyle stared at Nikolai and sighed. At times like this, he couldn't help but feel more than a little annoyed at him. In all fairness, what he had said was tre. But even so, the head keeper couldn't help but feel he was a little paranoid at times about the animals. Briefly clenching his fists around the top of the rail, he closed his eyes and breathed in. He had to remain professional. In an effort to get his mind off the matter, he looked past the security chief to speak to Yolanda. "Do you have any idea when Linda should be showing up?"
"She shouldn't be much longer," Yolanda responded. "She said she'd be finished with the new arrivals in about fifteen minutes..."
"You called?"
The three staff members turned their heads in time to see Linda standing nearby with a smile. Standing next to Kyle, she started looking over at Arlo, smiling. "Sorry I took a while, the latest arrivals really proved a bit of a handful. I'm guessing you want updates."
Nikolai nodded his head curtly up and down.
"You think he's gonna be good?" Kyle asked.
Linda nodded her head in the affirmative. "Yes." She pointed at Arlo, who had extended his neck tentatively towards the branches of a nearby tree and, after a brief consideration, began to eat. "But until I'm certain he's fully recovered, he's staying here under my watch. That infected wound on his back was pretty bad, and, well, better safe than sorry."
Arlo swallowed the leaves, briefly scanned the air and bellowed, before heading down to the water trough. Lowering his head, he began to drink.
"Whilst he's on the mend," Linda continued, nodding her head at the sight of the young sauropod's current behavior. "I'd say we wait at least another week, maybe two if we absolutely have to, before introducing him into the main paddock."
"Understandable," said Kyle as he nodded his head in acceptance. Nikolai likewise indicated he had no problem with this assessment, as did Yolanda.
"Glad to hear that." Linda looked back at Arlo, who was now still drinking, but also occasionally taking a break to look left and right as if feeling nervous about being watched.
Nikolai's communicator abruptly went off, and the security chief reflexively answered. "Koshkin, over?" Kyle and the two vets looked on as Nikolai listened to whoever was on the other end of the line. "Understood," Nikolai eventually stated. "I'm on my way."
The Russian man ended the call and looked to Kyle. "We have to get to the holding pens – it seems they brought back a pack of European Ceratosaurus. We're going to be needed." Nikolai turned and left to head off to the holding pens without even checking to see if Kyle was following. The head keeper took a deep breath, exhaled, and then gritted his teeth before slowly making his way out of the area to follow Nikolai. This left Linda and Yolanda still standing by the pen where Arlo was now still drinking. After a few minutes, Yolanda looked to Linda. "So...now what?"
Linda directed her eyes towards Arlo, who now appeared to be looking in their direction. "Well, there doesn't seem to be anything going on." She smiled. We're not in a rush."
Yolanda thought to herself. "I suppose there's no harm in that." She looked back at Arlo once more. In the process, she took note of just how big he already was despite still being only a juvenile. Then she remembered just how big all the adults amongst the apatosaurus herd had been, plus the equally massive, if not even more so, size of all the other sauropods and similarly large herbivorous dinosaurs that had been rescued. She gulped as she realized just how daunting of a task it would potentially be to move even one of the sauropods in the event it was unhealthy enough to not even be able to move on its own. "And now that I think about it, I honestly can't help but wonder just how we're going to handle transport for all these giants without some sort of super tough and strong tow-truck or something."
Linda thought to herself. Her assistant had brought up a surprisingly valid point that she hadn't yet considered. Then she happened to look back at Arlo once more, and her eyes narrowed in curiosity as she started to wonder about a possible solution to this problem. "I wonder," she thought to herself.
. . . . .
Meanwhile, back in the Jurassic, Drew, Leon and Adrian walked towards the top of a bluff overlooking a valley. Dead bushes and shrubs reigned over the area with the occasional tree or termite mound. In the distance, however, they saw a large pool with giant ferns and horsetails growing around the edge, surrounding a small stand of conifers. Compared to the desolate landscape around it, this was an oasis.
Hiking down the hill, the first things they noticed was a pair of adult Allosaurus, slightly smaller than the ones at the park and lighter coloured, with two half-grown offspring, lying in the shade of a large tree. Flitting around them were a flock of small, plover-like pterosaurs, occasionally picking out meat from the allosaurs' teeth. The three humans immediately noticed that the male's jaw jutted out at almost a right angle – the legacy of a failed ambush, they supposed.
Drew smiled, "Time to pull out an old plan", as he drew out the airhorn and blew into it at full volume. The nearest theropod turned its head, only to then hiss again at the sight of the three humans before charging towards them. Its mate, noticing it leave, turned its head and noticed the humans as the rest of the pack followed suit, with the pterosaurs following. Once they got close enough, Drew activated the portal, sending all the animals to the present.
After the last animal had gone through, Leon turned to Drew and asked, "What do we do next?" Drew was about to speak, when, suddenly, a high-pitched twittering, like the squawks of a magpie crossed with the barking of a Chihuahua.
Following the source of the twittering, they saw about thirty Compsognathus standing by the lake. Drew, Leon and Adrian smiled at each other at the discovery of their target species. Using a trail of insects as bait, they managed to lead the small theropods through the portal, into the present.
After the last compy went through, Adrian turned to Drew and said, "Is that it?" Drew shook his head and was about to say something when, suddenly, a low bellow interrupted him.
The three adventurers turned to see an assortment of herbivores drinking from the watering hole. A herd of Camptosaurus-resembling ornithopods, but lighter-coloured, drank alongside a herd of Dacentrus-resembling stegosaurs, with lighter colours and slightly smaller shoulder spines, briefly interspersed with several Gargoyelosaurus-resembling ankylosaurs. However, it was the sauropods that kept the team's attention; among the animals at the watering hole were a herd of large diplodocids, a herd of large camarosaurs and a herd of giant brachiosaurs, joined by a group of sauropods they did not recognise.
Leon knew what they all were "The larger ornithopods are Draconyx, the smaller ornithopods are Eousdryosaurus, the stegosaurs are Miragia, the ankylosaurs are Dracopelta, and the sauropods are Supersaurus, Lusotitan, Lourinhasaurus and Zby."
Suddenly, a Draconyx sniffed the air and hooted, before a large, dark shape moved stealthily through the denuded trees, moving so fast it was a blur. At the sight of it, the herds all suddenly went on edge. A Lusotitan sniffed the air, and bellowed a loud, trumpeting call.
A pair of theropods loped out of the denuded trees, towards the herbivores. They looked like the Marshosaurus back at the park, only much, much bigger; from nose to tail, the bigger one of the two was forty feet long. Leon said, almost mute with shock, "Torvosaurus – a sauropod-hunter and the apex predator here." Adrian looked nervously at the two giants, "I don't think they're here to drink, somehow."
The Miragia bellowed and rattled their spikes at the Torvosaurus, who simply snarled in Torvosaurus advanced towards the herds, scanning the herd for sick, weak or young individuals. The herds bunched together, keeping the younger animals in the middle, whilst the larger sauropods began stamping their feet and bellowing to drive off the predators. The Torvsaurus, undaunted, snapped and hissed at the herbivores. Eventually, the Brachiosaurus began to turn and leave; however, the followed them. It only took a large male charging them to get them to back off. Dismayed, the theropods walked off to the lake and began drinking. The team saw the herd standing some distance away, drinking from the watering hole.
Suddenly, Drew turned to the Torvosaurus and began blaring his airhorn. The theropods turned to him and snarled – to this, Drew smirked and began slowly moving backwards, blaring the horn again. When the predators had gotten close enough, they charged towards them; Drew dived out of the way and activated the portal remote, and the theropods dove through the portal into the present.
Leon and Adrian turned and smiled; now it was their turn. Stealthily walking up to the herbivores, Leon and Adrian left a trail of vegetation leading to a single pile. Once the herbivores had gotten close enough, the two tossed the vegetation through the portal, which the herbivores followed. Approaching them, Drew smiled, "Let's go home." The three looked at each other and walked back through the portal back to the present.
Soon the Jurassic creatures were all transferred to their new homes. The smaller animals had been provided a small forest to clamber and hunt in, whilst the lake-dwelling animals had been given a pool. A flabbergasted Khatin had confirmed that most of the pterosaurs that they had brought back, as well as some of the smaller animals belonged to species unknown in the fossil record.
The large theropods had all been transferred to large paddocks, with ample space to roam. They were all roaming their new territories and waiting for their next meal.
The large herds of herbivores would all share a paddock. The smaller herbivores – the ornithopods, stegosaurs and ankylosaurs – had been transported using containment trucks. The sauropods, however, were too big to transport using the trucks; so, instead, using food and recordings of their calls, the sauropods were being herded towards their new home by park Jeeps.
Meanwhile, Linda was sitting and watching Arlo trundle around his veterinary pen. She looked at the sauropod and sighed; whilst the loneliness was obviously getting to him, it'd be a few more weeks before he could be introduced to his kind. Suddenly. Arlo walked over to the head vet and bellowed plaintively. Almost reflexively, Linda reached out and put her hand on the sauropod's massive head. The sauropod let out a happy-sounding rumble, before walking off. Linda smiled - it seemed they were starting to bond.
* A speculate crested pterosaur similar to one from previous mission. (2; all adults; 1 male, 1 female)
* A speculative pterosaur species that serves a role similar to that of a plover. (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)
* Allosaurus europaeus (4; 2 adults, 2 youngsters; 2 male, 2 female)
* Anurognathus ammoni (25; all adults; 12 males, 13 females)
* At least three-four species of speculative terrestrial crocodilian.
* Aviatyrannus jurassica (13; all adults; 5 male, 8 female)
* Ceratosaurus dentisulcatus (7; all adults; 2 male, 5 female)
* Compsognathus longipes (30; all adults; 13 male, 17 female)
* Dacentrurus armatus (10; all adults; 3 male, 7 female)
* Diablophis lourihinaensis. (2; all adults; 1 male, 1 female)
* Draconyx loureiroi (19; 12 adults, 7 younglings; 9 male, 10 female)
* Dracopelta zbyszewskii (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)
* Drescheratherium acutum (6; all adults; 3 male, 3 female)
* Dryolestes leiriensis (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)
* Dryosaurus europaeus (10; all adults; 4 male, 6 female)
* Eilenodon europaeus (4; all adults; 2 male, 2 female)
* Eousdryosaurus nanohallucis (17; 11 adults, 6 youngsters; 7 male, 10 female)
* Guimarotodus inflatus (Nathan decides)
* Haldanodon expectatus (Nathan decides)
* Henkelotherium guimarotae (Nathan decides)
* Krebsotherium lusitanicum (Nathan decides)
* Lourinhanosaurus antunesi (2; all adults; 1 male, 1 female)
* Lourinhasaurus alenquerensis (13; 8 adults, 5 youngsters; 6 male, 7 female)
* Lusotitan atalaiensis (9; all adults; 4 male, 5 female)
* Miragaia longicollum (13; all adults; 5 male, 8 female)
* Nanolestes drescherae (Nathan decides)
* Opisthias europaeus (6; all adults; 3 male, 3 female)
* Ornitholestes europaeus (2; all adults; 1 male, 1 female)
* Phyllodon henkelli (Nathan decides)
* Supersaurus lourinhanensis (19; 13 adults, 6 youngsters; 7 male, 12 female)
* Torvosaurus gurneyi (2; all adults; 1 male, 1 female)
* Triconolestes europaeus (18; all adults; 9 males, 1 females)
* Two speculative pterosaur species similar to Harpactognathus
* Zby atlanticus (17; 13 adults, 4 youngsters; 6 male, 11 female)
Next time on Prehistoric Park Reimagined:
The park decides to broaden its horizons.
(A small aquatic reptile snaps its jaws playfully at Jack while on a small canoe.)
In more ways than one.
(A large ship is seen docked at a harbor near the park.)
And the newly rescued compsognathus prove an unexpected handful to work with.
(A baffled Khatin gazes incredulously at a trio of compsognathus in his office.)
